Origins of Fields. The beginning of wisdom for an institutionalist is the
recognition that existing institutional structures shape the creation of new
fields. Still, studies exist of efforts to create (relatively) new forms in (relatively)
unstructured, or understructured, contexts. DiMaggio (1991) relates
the history of the creation during the late nineteenth century in America of
the "high" culture field of art museums. He posits a contest between two varying
models of museums-one more broadly populist (e.g., public libraries),
the other more elitist, a connoisseurship model of acquisition and exhibition
of fine arts treasures. Differing types or art professionals championed each of
these models, but eventually, with the decisive help of the Carnegie
Foundation, the latter triumphed." Two important lessons are drawn: ( 1) fundamental
conflicts in institutional logics are more likely to be visible in the
early stages of field formation than after a field has become highly structurated;
and (2) professional activists operate at two, relatively independent
levels-within organizations, as professionals, managers, •and trustees jockey
for position and, more fatefully, outside organizations at the field level, as logics
and frameworks are crafted and contested so that, eventually, one vision of
the field is privileged over others.